Speculations about Bible Prophecy

Chapter 12: Speculations about Bible Prophecy

1. The Formation of Three Groups

The Hadith often mention “the three” from Syria. The Assyrian army was split up under three leaders, Tartan, Rabsaris and Rabshakeh.  These names all have religious meanings, just as do the names of the leaders of the various Islamic brigades today- e.g. "Tartan" is related to the Assyrian god Tartak (2 Kings 17:31). The subdivision of the Arab invader into three groups, as in the original Assyrian battle plan, may also be thus foreseen in the last days, seeing that some previous Arab invasions may have had this feature too:

-  "The spoilers of the Philistines (raided Israel) in three companies" (1 Sam. 13:17).
-  The Israelites fought their Ammonite enemies "in three companies", perhaps because there were three groups of Ammonites (1 Sam. 11:11).
-  The account of Gideon's victory over Midian, a clear type of the latter-day Arab destruction, has a triple emphasis on Israel attacking them in "three companies" (Jud. 7:16,20,22) - perhaps for the same reason.
-  The "great city" of Babylon/Assyria will be "divided into three parts" for its destruction (Rev. 16:19).
-  The Chaldeans (Babylonians/Assyrians) attacked Job, symbolic of faithless Israel, in  three bands (Job 1:17)
-  Is there some reference to this in the enigmatic three frog like spirits of Rev. 16?
-  Rev. 9:14-18 describes how in the last days, 200,000,000 horsemen came from the Euphrates (i.e. Babylon/Assyria), using "fire and smoke and brimstone" to punish God's apostate people just before Christ returns. "By these three was the third part of men killed" might suggest that this invading army has three aspects to its work.   The huge number of horsemen must allude to the "great company" of horsemen of Ez. 38:4, which we have shown to be rooted in the Assyrian invasion.  The 200,000,000 horsemen of Rev. 9:16 may correspond to the fact that the strength of the Assyrian army which came against Jerusalem is claimed in some inscriptions to have been 200,000 men.

The Koran has interpretations attached to it called the Hadith, written by various Imams [Moslem pastors and teachers]. These are considered by many Moslems to be of similar authority to the Koran itself, and there is a conscious striving by jihadists to fulfill the predictions made in them. One of them is most significant in our context: “Abdulla Ibn Hawala, the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “You will be split up into groups of armies. An army will be in Al-shaam, an army in Iraq, and an army in Yemen”. Here we have it- three groups of armies coming against Israel, one of them being from A-Sham! And much support for the IS comes from Yemen and the Arabian peninsular. This teaching is now being appropriated by the Islamist factions who are coming to power in Syria- just search for these sentences on the internet and you’ll see how common they now are!

We might therefore watch out for three separate military entities forming, which make a three pronged attack upon Israel.

2. Accept Islam!

Initially, the Assyrians demanded that Israel pay them tribute and accepted their religion. One could well imagine 'Assyria' of the last days stipulating Israel's acceptance of Islam as a condition for military help and mercy. God was Israel's father (Jer. 3:19: 31:9; Mal. 1:6;  2:10) and master (Mal. 1:6;  Deut. 32:36);  both these concepts were well understood by Israel.   For king Ahaz to say to Tiglath-Pileser, "I am thy servant and thy son" (2 Kings 16:7) was therefore a conscious rejection of Yahweh as Master and Father.   For this reason Isaiah, prophesying in this period, stresses the fact that God claims Israel as His servant (e.g. Is. 44:1,2,21).   The historical account sadly records how not only Ahaz but Hoshea (2 Kings 17:3) and Jehoiakim (2 Kings 24:1) also became 'servants' of their Arab dominators - doubtless thinking that they could serve two masters.  Note in passing how 'Islam' is a call to 'submit'. This conscious rejection of Yahweh worship is further shown by Ahaz cutting off "the borders of the bases" of the laver (2 Kings 16:17), i.e. the cherubic faces which were on the wheels. These would have been a distinctive part of Yahweh worship. 2 Kings 16:10,11 records how after meeting Tiglath-pileser at Damascus, Ahaz ordered a replica altar to one which he had seen there. Ez. 23:7 confirms that Judah were forced to accept Assyria's religion: " She committed her whoredoms with... the chosen men of Assyria (i.e. the Assyrian diplomats with whom Ahaz's messengers negotiated)... with all their idols she defiled herself".

During the final invasion, the Assyrian commander Rabshakeh demanded: "Make an agreement with me... and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree... until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey" (2 Kings 18:31-32).   The repetition of the word "land" and the evident allusions to the description of the promised land Israel would have if they were faithful (e.g. Deut. 8:7,8), show that Rabshakeh was offering the Jews a fake kingdom of God.   The reference to each man eating his own vine and fig tree is alluding to Mic. 4:4, a prophecy which was uttered during this period, and doubtless repeated by the prophets within Jerusalem: "They shall sit every man under his vine and... fig tree". These conscious allusions by Rabshakeh again show that there was a strong religious element in his reasoning - as if to say, "Make a deal with us, and we can offer you something better than the kingdom your prophets tell you will soon come and is worth suffering for".  The Islamist demand of the last days may run along similar lines: "Become Muslims, and then you will be the real children of Abraham and have hope of being in a real paradise". The language of vines, oil, corn, honey etc. are prominent in the Islamic concept of 'paradise', their equivalent to the Kingdom of God.